Monday 23 June 2025: Heatwave 

Friday seems like such a long time ago and, of course, I didn’t write the blog post as I went along, so now I’m trying to recall it all from memory.

The biggest job of the day was creating a media CV. I used to have a media CV and a full CV, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. They were both probably a bit old-fashioned anyway, so I hunted for the latest templates online, found one I liked, downloaded it, and started to fill it in. This took a big chunk of time, I know, because, again, I was doing a lot of it from memory.

Another job I definitely did on Friday was submit Assignment 2 for the 50 murder mystery prompts workshop. This was so I wouldn’t have to fire up the computer over the weekend as the assignment was finished anyway. 

Our heatwave finally arrived, so all the curtains were closed, all the fans were on, and most of the windows were open, but those had to be closed again when the air outside was too warm. We don’t have air conditioning in the UK as standard, and we’re not used to heatwaves, so we don’t all deal with them very well. Some people love the heat and go nuts, although that might be as a result of the excess heat in the first place. But I don’t like it very much and nor does our garden. I had to go out several times to top up the bird baths.

I think it climbed up to the late 80s Fahrenheit, early 30s Centigrade. This is way too hot for people like me with a very ‘English’ complexion. 

I read a short story on Deadlines for Writers, and I commented on it. We’re supposed to read and comment on at least 4 stories every month for the 12 stories in 12 months challenge, and I thought if I could read one every day, then I’d do that easily, and some.

An email arrived regarding final plans for a work reunion in Stratford upon Avon we’re going to in July. We’re chartering a boat on the River Avon and then going back to a former colleague’s house for tea and biscuits at tea time and then a barbecue in the evening. The poet and I are making a short break of it by staying an extra night and going to the theatre. 

We’re going to see W. Somerset Maugham’s THE CONSTANT WIFE. It’s quote the star-studded cast (well, it is Stratford, Darling!),  but I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kate Burton is over here playing Mrs Culver.

We were thinking of going down in the campervan, but now we’re staying in a Premier Inn in the centre of Stratford. Having the car with us should be easier and more convenient than taking the van.

On Saturday, we did the shopping as usual. The poet gave the bird baths their weekly scrub and put a penny in 2 of them to try and keep the water clean. But then we both collapsed on the bed and slept for a couple of hours in the afternoon, which may also have had a lot to do with the heat. We had thunderstorms forecast in the UK all day, but they all went right around us.

I read another short story on Deadlines for Writers, and commented on it.

By Sunday, the penny had gone from the stone bath. I suspect one of the jackdaws or magpies may have spied that and taken it back to their nest. The aluminium bath still had its penny and the water was still clean. We went to get bird food and ended up going to the bargain supermarket for mealworms and fat blocks, and to the premium pet shop for no mess feeder food. 

When it had cooled down enough, and after we finally had some good showers, the poet removed a section of hedge and a load of ivy that was invading the house right over the office. He blocked up some holes in the flat roof too, but the roof felt is torn in several places. I went around the garden dead-heading the roses. But it was still too warm to do anything very energetic. 

I have a lot to get through this week as there were other things I didn’t do on Friday. 

The magic bakery

A few years ago I stumbled across a book called THE MAGIC BAKERY by Dean Wesley Smith. Originally written in 2017, this book turned on a lightbulb inside my head and enabled me to see copyright in a whole different glow. 

One of the first things I did, after reading this book, was start my own magic bakery. And in one 12-month period, I published around 56 books: short stories; collections; novellas; novels; and non-fiction books. Fifty-six of ‘em. I’ve added to them since, but those books now provide me with a steady trickle of income. Passive income.

Well, the magic bakery is back, but this time Smith is updating it, chapter by chapter, first on his website, then in a class, and then in a new and updated book. Here’s chapter eight. 

I’ll carry on linking to the chapters, as they appear, so that you guys have some understanding of what I’m banging on about when I persist in talking about my magic bakery. And I’ll repeat this bit of blurb every time for first-time readers. 

For those of you who’d rather read them as Smith posts them himself, rather than when I get around to it, you can go straight to his website here.